Katherine TyrrellMaking a Mark ​on Botanical Art

My name is Katherine Tyrrell and I created 'Botanical Art and Artists'The top compendium of botanical art past and present ​for botanical artists & illustrators of today & tomorrow

I'm a writer who writes about art for artists and art lovers on my art blog Making A Mark. It has a very large readership around the world with more than 12 million page views in the last 10 years.

Botanical Art and Artists is now catching up fast! It now regularly gets c.2,000+ visitors a day; around 30,0000 page views each week and has now had over 500,000 pageviews since it started in April 2015!

Botanical Art and Artists is nowthe TOP botanical art compendium website in the world (according to Alexa).

My past life involved a degree in Education from Cambridge University, an MBA from the London Business School; and two professional qualifications as both a teacher and an accountant. I worked at a senior level in management consultancy/inspection and government before I retired.

​I'm also an artist. I won a national painting competition age 6, studied art at school and then did nothing for many years. I now draw and sketch in dry media and exhibit my work. (see below)

I've been a huge fan of botanical art and illustration for very many years. This dates back to my childhood and my love of my mother's RHS Annual Desk Diary which every year was filled by reproductions of artwork by famous botanical artists. I used to pore over every single illustration noting the differences in approach and admiring all those who were excellent.

Reasons for developing this website include:

one of my major interests has always been botanical art

I've been writing about it and highlighting relevant artists on a regular basis on my blog for well over a decade

plus I've developed a following around the world as a result.

there's no one website which covers botanical art in a comprehensive way - so I decided to create one!

My current activities involve

researching and recording my findings - which led to the development of this website

visits to exhibitions and collections of contemporary and historical botanical art

interviewing award-winning artists at RHS, SBA and other exhibitions in London

​highlighting exhibitions around the world

highlighting relevant artists - past and present

collecting books about botanical artists and making art

researching the history of botanical illustration and botanical art

​advising owners and collectors of botanical art

and writing about all of the above on this website, in blog posts, on my Facebook Page and in articles for journals.

A combination of arthritis and cataracts (now fixed but my near vision is still not at all good) and tenosynovitis in my drawing hand has limited my ability to follow the strict technical version of botanical illustration - much though I love it. However I continue to explore other ways of working.

I love structures within plants, at a macro level, and in recent times have majored on drawing cacti and succulents. I'm told that my drawings has prompted those familiar with these plants to start looking at them more closely!

I started writing about art on Making A Mark which went public for the first time at the beginning of January 2006.

Since then I've written nearly 3,500 blog posts and it's had well over 4 million visitors and nearly 12 million pageviews.

A super comprehensive affair, Katherine Tyrrell’s blog is a go-to for punters and artists alike. Making a Mark includes useful annual itineraries of major UK art exhibitions (though the bulk are London-based) as well as a meticulous calendar of competitions for artists to enter. Expect in-depth news, analysis and a focus on fostering new talentCreativeTourist - Top Art Blogs UK 2016

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